Human Rights in the Media: Fear and Fetish (Routledge Research in Human Rights Law) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0367662523 ISBN 13: 9780367662523

Publisher: Routledge, 2020

Synopsis

This collection sets about untangling some of the knotty issues in the underexplored relationship between human rights and the media. We investigate how complex debates in political, judicial, academic and public life on the role and value of human rights are represented in the media, particularly, in print journalism. To focus the discussion, we concentrate on media representation of the controversial proposals in the United Kingdom to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 and to replace it with a British Bill of Rights. The collection is underpinned by the observation that views on human rights and on the proposals to repeal and replace are polarised. On the one hand, human rights are presented as threatening and, therefore, utterly denigrated; on the other hand, human rights are idolised, and, therefore, uncritically celebrated. This is the ‘fear and fetish’ in our title. The media plays a decisive role in constructing this polarity through its representation of political and ideological viewpoints. In order to get to grips with the fear, the fetish and this complex interrelationship, the collection tackles key contemporary themes, amongst them: the proposed British Bill of Rights, Brexit, prisoner-voting, the demonisation of immigrants, press freedom, tabloid misreporting, trial by media and Magna Carta. The collection explores media representation, investigates media polarity and critiques the media’s role.

About this title

About the Author

Michelle Farrell is Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Liverpool.

Eleanor Drywood is Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Liverpool.

Edel Hughes is Senior Lecturer in Law at Middlesex University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0367662523
• ISBN 13: 9780367662523
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 316
• Editor: Farrell Michelle, Drywood Eleanor, Hughes Edel